Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 233 Establishing the Han Dynasty as its Era, and Discussing the Selection of an Empress

In fact, after Liu Bian announced that he would no longer receive auspicious omens, many of the reign titles proposed by the people in the palace became obsolete.

Fu Qian originally proposed three reign titles: "Tianyou," "Tianbao," and "Tiansheng." These reign titles, which entrust the prosperity of the country to the protection of Heaven, naturally did not conform to the Crown Prince's wishes.

Xun Shuang's proposed auspicious omens, such as "Yi Feng," "Long Shuo," and "Lin De," were discarded, as were Cai Yong's "Jia You" and "Jia He."

Ma Ridi's "Zhengshi", "Yongxi", and "Jianyan" were also good ideas. Zheng Xuan's proposed reign titles "Jianlong", "Taikang", and "Yongchang" were more in line with Liu Bian's wishes. As a famous Confucian scholar, he did not pursue auspiciousness and profound meaning in his reign titles. Instead, he chose simple and easy-to-understand ones that even ordinary people could understand.

However, Liu Bian was a little confused. He wondered if these people did it on purpose or by accident. He was quite familiar with many of the reign titles, and he had collected quite a few of the titles of this clan and that ancestor. That was one thing, but Ma Ridi's three reign titles almost made him lose his composure.

The instigator of the Zhengshi Incident of the Old Tortoise, the War of the Eight Princes of the Meat Porridge Emperor, and the Fengboting Victory that shattered the myth of the invincibility of Yue Fei's army!
Ma Ridi, you did it on purpose, wasn't it?
However, these were reign titles that had never been used before. Although Liu Bian was unhappy, he did not show it and just looked uninterested.

Lu Zhi proposed the reign title "Zhenguan"!
“The Book of Changes says: ‘The way of Heaven and Earth is to be upright and righteous.’ ‘Upright’ means righteous and righteous, and ‘observation’ means to reveal. Therefore, ‘upright and righteous’ means to reveal righteousness and righteousness!” Lu Zhi bowed to the Crown Prince and said, “The court has accumulated many problems over the years and has done many improper things. This reign title also means to correct the chaos and restore order.”

Liu Bian glanced at Lu Zhi and casually offered him a helping hand.

Lu Zhi's idea should be the same as Ma Ridi's, who proposed the "Zhengshi" reign title, both of whom intended to correct past mistakes.

But who is being referred to as "chaos"?

The one who sold official positions and built lavish palaces!
In short, the root of the "chaos" is still alive, and his ascension to the throne as crown prince implies the intention to restore order, which is quite appropriate.

However, after careful consideration, Liu Bian rejected the suggestions of Lu Zhi, Ma Ridi, and others.

He did not feel he was worthy of the reign title "Zhenguan" nor did he wish to become the so-called "Emperor Zhenguan." He believed he should have his own path.

Moreover, Liu Bian also hoped that the reign title could be simple and easy to understand, just like the "Jianlong", "Taikang" and "Yongchang" proposed by Zheng Xuan. However, these reign titles were not very auspicious.

Although the theory of the interaction between heaven and man has been abolished, many things in China, from ancient times to the present, even in the scientific age of atheism, still cannot escape the concept of "bad luck".

"Alright, let's take 'Hanxing' as the new era name."

Lu Zhi and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. In fact, the others thought that the "Zhenguan" reign title proposed by Lu Zhi was good, but they did not expect that the Crown Prince would refuse it.

However, the reign title is not actually a matter of national importance. As His Highness the Crown Prince said, it is good to be simple and easy to understand. Why be too pedantic about the words?
As for the day of his ascension to the throne, it was set for the first day of the first month of the following year!

This saved money by combining the grand New Year's Day celebration with the coronation ceremony. At the same time, New Year's Day was also a time when civil and military officials, princes, and foreign envoys gathered in Luoyang to perform the "kowtow" ceremony, present congratulatory messages and gifts. This saved the princes and other foreign envoys from having to make an extra trip, making it more convenient for the use and implementation of the new calendar system.

For an entire day, Liu Bian did not handle any other government affairs, spending all his time finalizing the regulations for his ascension to the throne. As darkness fell, Liu Bian rubbed his temples, but noticed that everyone was still sitting upright, seemingly with no intention of leaving. He couldn't help but frown.

"What are you doing sitting here? I'm not serving food today."

Liu Bian looked at the group of people blankly. When there was no banquet, he usually had lunch and dinner with Liu Qing and Cai Yuan, especially since today was the fifteenth of August.

Although there is no custom of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival now, he has already arranged to have a meal together with Liu Hong, Empress He, Liu Man, Liu Qing, Cai Yuan and their family in the Chongde Hall of the North Palace.

Furthermore, he didn't mention holding a banquet today, nor did he instruct Gao Wang to have the Chinese kitchen prepare dishes, so these people won't have anything to eat if they stay here.

At most, they would simply have the kitchen prepare a few more dishes and steam more rice so that the Crown Prince's staff could have a working lunch together. Lu Zhi stared blankly at Liu Bian, while Xun Shuang and Cai Yong also looked at him with scrutiny, as if trying to determine whether His Highness the Crown Prince was feigning ignorance or had genuinely forgotten.

As Liu Bian's closest teacher, Lu Zhi felt it was his duty to point this out, and solemnly said, "Your Highness, having ascended the throne, how can you be without an heir?"

Liu Bian squinted, his face clouded with gloom, and pointed at Lu Zhi, cursing: "Lu Zhi, you old bastard, do you want to hear what you're saying? I ascended the throne on New Year's Day, and it's already the fifteenth of August, only four and a half months left. Neither of my two children shows any signs of pregnancy. Where am I supposed to find a baby?"

It's normal for someone his age not to have children yet. Besides, he's only taken Liu Qing and Cai Yuan as concubines for a few months. What kind of trouble could there be?
Worrying about nothing!
Lu Zhi paused slightly, then thought, "There are too many people here, so never mind."

If he and the Crown Prince were alone in a room, he would have cursed the disciple until his face was covered in spittle!
"Your Highness, please have some self-respect!"

Lu Zhi shouted. If Liu Bian hadn't said so much, he might have believed that his disciple simply hadn't realized what they really wanted to ask. But this was almost blatantly a joke to change the subject. Did they really think they were stupid?

Xun Shuang could no longer contain himself. He wanted to be the most honored father-in-law of the emperor, so he said in a solemn and loud voice, "Your Highness, we are talking about establishing an empress, not Your Highness's offspring!"

Liu Bian couldn't help but curse inwardly, "You lot of ministers are now meddling in my harem?"
That's right, Liu Bian did not want to establish an empress, or rather, he did not want to rush into establishing one.

With the physical condition he developed from getting up early every day to practice horseback riding and archery, he should be able to live to be over fifty years old, unless he is unlucky enough to contract some kind of plague.
Since there are no children yet, why rush to establish an empress?
An empress cannot be appointed lightly; there are too many political factors to consider.

In any case, Liu Qing could not be made empress. She was Yuan Shao's wife, and since the Yuan family of Runan had been exterminated, the court officials would not accept Liu Qing as empress.

Moreover, Liu Qing gave birth to Yuan Shang for Yuan Shao. Yuan Shang was, after all, a person with the bloodline of the Yuan family of Runan. If Liu Qing became empress, wouldn't the Yuan family of Runan rise again?

How many families have feasted on the corpses of the Yuan family of Runan, their mouths stained with blood? How can we allow the Yuan family of Runan to rise again?

Even Fu Shou, the woman Empress He had already decided to bring into his harem, was not an option. She came from the Modernist school of thought, which would ultimately be detrimental to the stability of the court.

Although he intended to use the remaining New Text School to counterbalance the Old Text School, the Old Text School, the dragon slayer, would not become the dragon within at least two generations.

Of the remaining options, only Cai Yuan, who had become the Crown Prince, and Cai Yan, the eldest daughter of Cai Yong, and Xun Cai, the eldest daughter of Xun Shuang, who were engaged.

However, Liu Bian would not share these thoughts with others; he could only keep them buried deep in his heart.

He wanted to use the position of empress as a reward for the elders and relatives of these concubines, in order to incite them to compete fiercely.

Whoever best understands the emperor's heart and can relieve his troubles will be granted the position of empress to his daughter or niece.

Rolling it up is simply rolling it up!

The final interpretation rests with him. Perhaps he had already decided who would be the empress, but he let these people debate it. In the end, whoever he said was the one who understood the emperor's heart best would be the one who understood the emperor's heart best.

What, do you understand my heart better than I do?
As for how to ultimately understand the Emperor's heart?
Naturally, it was to cooperate with the imperial court in implementing the land survey decree!

Of course, all of this must be done in moderation; things shouldn't go too far.

Otherwise, before the nine princes' struggle for the throne even begins, we'll see nine women vying for the empress's position first.

(2462 words)
(End of this chapter)